Thesis by Alexa Frankovitch

Photo by Scott Olsen

Putting this piece together has been eye opening to say the least. Beyond the stress of researching, writing, and completing a thesis project, this one specifically has required me to look extensively at heartbreaking stories and gruesome imagery. To understand both sides of the argument, and consider whether humanity is truly trying to help or not. When first looking into this subject, I assumed the problem was solely within the realm of political jargon. But as I studied more, I realized that it is prevalant within almost all forms of information sharing, and it affects people in every single part of the world. People have and will always long to be informed, no matter what the circumstances. If they feel that they are not getting what they want or need, they will fill in the gaps - sometimes with unintended consequesnces. Throughout this piece I focus on showing the discrepancies and similarities between standard, run-of-the-mill journalism, and citizen journalism. The two have very similar qualities and intentions, and frequently provide similar results, but there are often also distinct differences between the ethics, integrity, and quality of the information provided on either side. With both types of journalism being spread in mass quantities at a consistent rate, the lines between the two are often blurred. Specifically, with imagery like photos and video being shared, misinformation can be spread and stories can be misunderstood at a much faster rate, leaving audiences around the world confused but opinionated in an outwardly biased way. There have been so many stories in the news as of recent, showcasing events recorded by citizens that - without that documentation - would have ended in a much different way. Multiple instances of blatant racism, international unrest, and political scandals. Citizen journalism has helped to break these stories and provide us with the information that we all crave, but to what cost? While I believe it is crucial to society that we spread these stories and let everyone have their word in the news, I think there are some problems that need brought to attention. In this piece, I hope to convey the extreme need for this information, while bringing to light the fact that changes should to be made, most importantly to the overwhelming outflow of images that hover on the line of harmful and helpful. There is so much to fix in the world, but fixing the news is a good start.

Alexa

CONTENTS

Photo by Stefan Wermuth

HISTORY In the Line of Fire

Citizen Journalism Defined

Zainab Al Husni's Story

Code of Ethics

NilĂźfer Demir's Story

TODAY

Social Media Mistakes

Chaos in Controversies

Sources

the most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment, and video buzzfeed.com

IN THE LINE OF FIRE On Tuesday, July 5th, 2016, police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana responded to a call at approximately 12:30 a.m. regarding a supposed altercation between two men outside of a local food market. The exact events of the evening still have not been officially determined, but the undeniable result of the incident is that Alton Sterling, one of the men in the supposed dispute, was shot six times by a police officer.

Photo by WFFA News

Throughout the night, social media - specifically Facebook and Twitter - went aflame. Witnesses of the event and residents in the area wrote statements on what they saw that night. Two separate videos were posted showing the gruesome details of the shooting. People worldwide tried to piece together the event, taking what little they knew and attempting to do some investigating themselves. The police department had not yet released a statement, and press outlets were just picking up the story, but by that time people had already seen the video, heard the stories, learned what had happened. Just two days later, citizens of Dallas, Texas were attending a peaceful protest to stand in solidarity of the event when over a dozen police officers were shot. Again, social media users worldwide reacted before news outlets even reported the breaking news, sharing photos and prayers and hashtags to inform as many people as possible. And as more information was released, connections started to be made between this shooting and the one just two days prior. Citizens gave their opinions, re-sparking the “Black Lives Matter” movement in even more protest than previously. People shared statistics on gun violence and stories on other occurrences. By the time the mass media got to it, they themselves were quoting tweets and posts from users online. News outlet “The Guardian” even launched a project entitled “The Counted,” in which information on the number of people killed by police officers is tallied, based solely on information provided by citizen submissions. The stories of Alton Sterling and the Dallas police officers who were injured and killed were shared and commented on and used to fuel debates about gun violence, racism, and metal health. All of this was done before CNN and Fox even finished recording their breaking news segment.

Virginia Schau, 1954

In the In the cases cases of both of both Alton AltonSterling Sterlingand andthe theDallas Dallas police shooting, news was spread directly by non-professional journalists at the site of the event, otherwise known as citizen journalism. Citizen journalism can be defined as “the act of a citizen or group of citizens involved in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and other forms of information.” (Barnes) The role of journalism from a participatory citizen perspective has most frequently come arise in times of crisis, and though it may seem like an advancement risen from the Internet and modern medias, citizen journalism has been prevalent for decades, especially in the realm of photojournalism. In 1954, amateur photographer Virginia Schau photographed the incident of a man being rescued from a truck that had fallen over the side of a bridge. For this, she won that year’s Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography. Fast forward to recent years - in the advent of cell phones, almost everyone now carries a high quality camera in their pocket and thus, can record events the moment they happen. Some of the first images to come out of tragic events such as the Boston Marathon bombings were taken by members of the crowd, and many people followed the uprising in Syria directly through the lens of protesters in the streets. These reports provide viewers removed from the event an inside look into the happenings of the incident, and the citizen journalists find themselves able to provide information and imagery that would otherwise go unseen due to an absence of professional media outlets on-location. However, is this direct, uncensored media exposure beneficial to the national and international response as a whole? Information may be coming directly from the source but is that still being warped by traditional news outlets? And while citizen journalism gives “normal people” a voice, is this lack of professionalism inducing wide-spread panic and the formation of biased personal opinions? In our current day and age, nearly half of the American population gets some form of local news on a mobile device, and 46% get their news online more than three days a week. (Morejon) Because of this, “citizens increasingly stop consuming news and information in a linear way through one or a few mass

media, but literally assemble information associatively by interacting with it online.” (Peters/Broersma) People are able to pick and choose where their news comes from and consequently, create their own ideas of what is happening in the world. Peters/Broersma state that as people have the ability to navigate information more easily, they can cater to their own needs and “think for themselves.” Take for example the 2016 presidential election - much information is shared from multiple major news outlets about both candidates, but specific

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THE ACT OF A CITIZEN OR GROUP OF CITIZENS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF COLLECTING, REPORTING, ANALYZING, AND DISSEMINATING NEWS AND OTHER FORMS OF INFORMATION.

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channel reports are found to be fairly one-sided, i.e. one station may share the positive speeches of the Republican National Convention, while another may simultaneously report on the negative happenings of the day. This results in citizens often sharing only one side of the story that coincides with his or her personal opinion. There is an abundance of information to be shared, from thousands of outlets across the globe, and while this information is more than enough to inform virtually anyone, it also allows for too much personal choice and not enough straightforward fact. Barry Schwartz, the author of The Paradox of Choice: More is Less, states that national news sources all tell the same story, but as they each have their own bias, that bias is then repeated in the minds of specific viewers. “When you hear the same story everywhere you look and listen, you assume it must be true,” he says. “And the more people believe it’s true, the more likely they are to repeat it, and thus the more likely you are to hear it.” While citizen journalists and media news alike

may be reporting factual information, the sheer amount asks viewers and consumers to use their common sense to distinguish what is valid and what is not, though that request is not always completely apparent. Schwartz begs the question “Even if we can accurately determine what we want and then find good information, in a quantity we can handle, do we really know how to analyze, sift, weight, and evaluate it to arrive at the right conclusions and make the right choices?” As social media and news outlets with an online presence encourage people to post and submit photos, videos, and other information as events occur, many people have begun to see citizen journalism as an alternative to the extreme, often overwhelming mainstream news sources. Scholars argue that citizen journalists are breaking the mold of traditional journalism by covering stories that would typically be ignored by major news stations. However, others have found that this user-generated content has simply been absorbed into traditional media, under the guise of something raw and untouched. Social media sites like YouTube and Twitter which were created solely for people to share their thoughts and ideas are now peppered with advertisements, and content-creators are often paid by companies to talk about certain subjects. Of course, sponsorship is not a bad thing in many cases, especially for individuals using it to make a living. Similarly, regardless of what journalists report on, they are simply doing their job in order to make a decent living. When it comes to professional journalism, there is an exclusivity to the practice that ensures certain topics and events are only covered by those certifiably trained to do so. However, as Keith Greenwood and Ryan J. Thomas, authors of the piece “Locating the Journalism in Citizen Journalism” point out, “The interactivity and ease of sharing that characterizes contemporary media culture has transformed audiences from passive recipients to active producers of information.” It is now almost instinctual for people to photograph or record an event at which they are present. In 2010, scientist Bill Nye fainted on stage during a talk at the University of Southern California and the first response for most people in the crowd was to photograph and share the news via social media. While people were

indeed concerned about his health and the news of his apparent illness was important, reporting on the event in real time was not as crucial as ensuring his safety. And it is with events like this that the ethical concerns of non-professionals taking control come into play. One such issue of ethical risks in citizen journalism is that most contributors are not professionally trained and therefore do not know the standards of ethics set for trained journalists. Nadine Jurrat states in her article “Mapping Digital Media - Citizen Journalism and the Internet,” that many of those contributing to these medias do not see themselves as journalists, but as activists and therefore are not obligated to withhold to the same ethical standards as professional news journalists. With writing, many of the stories provide personal information and biased views that would not normally be approved by the publication, and while citizen photojournalists may know how to take a high-quality photo of the event, he or she may not know how to frame it to achieve the best story-telling image. He or she may also interfere with the scene to capture the photo, thus altering the event and subjecting the story to possible inaccuracies based on the photographer’s personal viewpoint. As Ashley Kang, director of the community newspaper The Stand states, “Usually when people are out there capturing something on video, they’re capturing a moment in time of what happened and they’re not attempting to put in into context.” Everyone has an opinion on an event, but professional journalists are taught to disavow that within their production and content. A citizen journalist may not be able to distinguish the cold facts from the biased information, so how does that affect the media? An influx of images, videos and stories may flow through during and/or following a huge event but how are viewers to distinguish what is reliable and what isn’t? How are they to pick out the stories that tell the events based on statistical facts and not someone’s personal experience? And after hundreds of images of the same occurrence, how are they supposed to feel any sense of shock or disbelief in the face of tragedy when they have seen the gory details in the comfort of their own homes, completely removed from the experience?

when people are out “ Usually there capturing something

on video, they’re capturing a moment in time of what happened and they’re not attempting to In 2011, a gruesome video was published of Zainab Al put in into context. Husni, an 18-year-old Syrian woman who had been burned,

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beheaded, and had her arms cut away from her body. The video was shared to YouTube via a revolutionary group, calling Husni a “martyr” who was murdered by the Syrian government. The video was shared by thousands of viewers, and subsequently dozens of media outlets including CNN, Associated Press, and France24. Husni became a symbol of the Syrian revolution, her picture being carried by protestors in the streets. Her family was interviewed to confirm the situation. A few weeks later, the story was revisited when Husni herself came forth with identification, proclaiming that she was not in fact dead. That the woman in the video was not her, that she was travelling home because her brothers had been abusing her. The Syrian revolution was suddenly faced with the issue that they were using falsified information in their protesting. The error in reporting underscored the entirety of the revolution at that moment at a time when journalistic efforts could have been shaping an uprising.

Photo by: Kris KrĂźg

CODE OF ETHICS for photojournalists

ASSOCIATED PRESS AP pictures must always tell the truth.

should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning. The removal of “red eye” from photographs is not permissible.

We do not alter or digitally manipulate the content of a photograph in any way.

When an employee has questions about the use of such methods or the AP’s requirements and limitations on photo editing, he or she should contact a senior photo editor prior to the transmission of any image.

The content of a photograph must not be altered in Photoshop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph. The faces or identities of individuals must not be obscured by Photoshop or any other editing tool. Only retouching or the use of the cloning tool to eliminate dust on camera sensors and scratches on scanned negatives or scanned prints are acceptable.

On those occasions when we transmit images that have been provided and altered by a source - the faces obscured, for example - the caption must clearly explain it. Transmitting such images must be approved by a senior photo editor.

Minor adjustments in Photoshop are acceptable. These include cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, and normal toning and color adjustments that should be limited to those minimally necessary for clear and accurate reproduction (analogous to the burning and dodging previously used in darkroom processing of images) and that restore the authentic nature of the photograph. Changes in density, contrast, color and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds

Except as described herein, we do not stage, pose or re-enact events. When we shoot video, environmental portraits, or photograph subjects in a studio care should be taken to avoid, misleading viewers to believe that the moment was spontaneously captured in the course of gathering the news. In the cases of portraits, fashion or home design illustrations, any intervention should be revealed in the caption and special instructions box so it can’t be mistaken as an attempt to deceive.

NATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION Visual journalists and those who manage visual news productions are accountable for upholding the following standards in their daily work:

to see. While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.

Be accurate and comprehensive in the representation of subjects. Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities. Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize and work to avoid presenting one’s own biases in the work.

Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects. Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation. Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage. Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.

Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy. Intrude on private moments of grief only when the public has an overriding and justifiable need

Photo by: Sid Hastings

As there are two sides to every story, and two sides to each argument, there are also two sides to this discussion in that in many cases, citizen journalism is in fact a good thing. Citizen journalists often get to the stories professional medias would or could not get to, like local events of significance, or detailed information on incidents that reporters were not present for. This gives the appearance and distinction from traditional media that citizen-sourced content is much more transparent and democratic, choosing its own topics and path of storytelling. David Cohn, founder of multiple citizen journalism publications, states, “Citizen journalists are artisans who work in the unshaped clay of events before perception has been hardened, glazed, and fired in the kilns of public discourse.” Citizen journalists are reporting on stories as they happen; recording events media hasn’t yet been alerted to. They are covering information that they deem necessary to

be made public. Simply put, there are more citizens than journalists so the citizens are taking control of the media. Author Peter Dooley suggests that “traditional journalism is the outside looking in. Citizen journalism is the inside looking out.” With the digitization of information sharing, people have begun to reject linear forms of news in lieu of stories on their time, whenever and wherever they need them. This rejection has subsequently caused the embracing of digital and social medias, building and connecting communities and as Broersma and Peters suggest, “provid[ing] the glue that binds parts of society together.” Without this immediate sharing of information, many situations could not have been rectified in time to save the endangered citizen, to provide support to revolutionary groups, to draw political awareness to situations that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Last year, photographer Nilüfer Demir captured the image of a Syrian toddler whose body had washed up on shore in Turkey after two boats full of migrants sank. Many news outlets were tentative or outright declined to publish it, but the photo made its rounds and was eventually seen by thousands of people, including the former British Prime Minister David Cameron who pledged to “do more” regarding the immigration crisis. “As a father, I feel deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey. Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfill our moral responsibility,” he stated. Citizens beyond Cameron were moved by the image as well, vying to help change the ongoing situation to ensure that situations of the sort no longer happened. Several petitions were launched calling to action the British government to accept more refugees and work more fully as a humanitarian-driven nation. Though people had been working for change before Demir took the image, the sharing of one simple photo struck a fire in people to work to move forward with a huge issue that was not being properly addressed.

Photo by: NilĂźfer Demir

With professional and citizen journalism alike, social media is often the main platform for sharing information, as it can reach huge audiences very quickly, and be readily shared amongst different audiences. In events like the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, citizen journalism via social media was a key component to coverage of the events; photographers and journalists from many major media sources were not on site at the time of the explosions, so photos and detailed accounts from people at the event became crucial evidence for the masses. News sites like CNN and The Guardian were able to acquire photos and video from attendees of the marathon for initial coverage. However, the free sharing of images and media can often times lead to the spread of misinformation if sources are not fact checked. Take for example, an image tweeted following the mass

shooting in Paris in 2015: the image, which showcased seemingly abandoned streets in Paris, was shared by almost 10,000 people. The image, however, was not sourced and was later confirmed to have actually come from an artist’s project entitled “Silent World,” which included Photoshopped images that depicted what large cities would look like if all occupants were gone. Similarly, the Twitter account Conservative Nation tweeted an image of a woman, badly injured and covered in blood stating, “Here’s what happened to female Trump supporter when she met ‘peaceful’ and ‘tolerant’ liberals.” Twitter users quickly debunked the accusation, sourcing the photo back to the Instagram account of an Australian actress who had previously posted a photo of herself on-set in gruesome stage makeup during the filming of a horror movie.

Cases of this nature occur more frequently than most realize. Other media mistakes include an image of a frozen lighthouse taken by photographer John McCormick who specializes in landscape photography, specifically icy spots around his Michigan home. The photo was taken in January of 2013. On January 7, 2014, a Twitter user posted the photo with the caption "Lighthouse on Lake Michigan in Chicago today." While the photo was indeed of a lighthouse on Lake Michigan, the photo was not from the frigid snow storm that was occurring at the moment. The user had taken the photo out of context, and had not- given credit to McCormick. Another example is a photograph of a young Syrian boy sleeping between the supposed graves of his parents, posted to popular image sharing site Imgur. The photo was actually taken by photographer

Abdul Aziz al-Otaibi in Saudia Arabia. The photograph was posted to his social media accounts and many people then took it at face value, sharing the photo and their interpretation of it without reading his statements or explaination. Beyond the misuse of photos, images can also be doctored to depict events that never occurred, such as the image of a man supposedly standing atop a building in New York City on September 11, 2001, with a plane flying directly behind him. The image was in fact Photoshopped, but many initially believed it to be true because of the emotional appeal. It is for this reason that press outlets have clear rules against altering images; news should first and foremost present truth, then inform audiences and allow viewers to create opinions on topics, but not with the intent to persuade.

While all of those cases were quickly resolved, the act of misinforming audiences via incorrectly sourced materials happens far too often. People are quick to fact-check statistics and written information, but fact-checking a photograph is much more difficult and not often considered. But while much falsity can come from mis-sharing photos and videos, imagery will always be the top choice for breaking news; the old proverb says that â&#x20AC;&#x153;seeing is believing,â&#x20AC;? but Errol Morris, author of Believing is Seeing, would argue just the opposite - that images are much more potent in the eyes of the audience, and a message is more easily shared through a photo than a block of explanatory text. This source of news sharing, while potentially problematic for some media outlets, has become the defining foundation of citizen journalism: citizens are able to go where journalists cannot, cover events that news stations are not in attendance of, and provide valuable visual information that would otherwise go unseen - at an unprecedented speed.

Some argue thoroughly that citizen journalism and its influx of immediate news is right and some argue that it is wrong. Some see it is crucial to society, some see it as a burden. So is it in fact necessary and informative? Or is it turning the masses into a misinformed population? Andrew Geleff argues that “If we can bring ourselves to a place where citizens are more accurately delivering breaking news information and doing so at a quicker place than the mainstream media outlets, why shouldn’t we just accept it for what it is and let it feed our desires for information at a constant state of availability?” As stated before, information is no longer being received in a linear way; people are following stories just as closely as decades prior, the advent of the internet and social media simply makes the craving more potent. The problem does not necessarily lie with those receiving the media, but with those exporting the stories - citizen and professional alike. We have built a culture that cannot be reversed, but can be adjusted. As Greenwood and Thomas state, “it stands to reason that it would be in the organizations’ best interests to provide educational material that would help potential contributors improve the aesthetic qualities of their photographs and videos.” In other words, citizen journalists will always exist - people reporting from the inside will always be around, always sharing their information and adding details to bigger

stories - so why shouldn’t they be better informed on how to do so? The creation of the printing press was a monumental adjustment in information sharing, and as U.S. Senator Howard Dean once said, “The internet is Gutenberg on steroids.” In many ways, traditional and citizen journalism are dramatically different, but in many ways they are exactly the same - people want to be informed, and if they are not getting the information they desire, they try to provide it themselves. News reporters work to offer accurate news as quickly as possible, and citizen journalists strive to spread the word about stories that they find important. Both sides are necessary to our understanding of situations and events in culture today, but with both sides working at a consistent rate, the line between the two is often blurred. The integrity and quality of sources comes into question and the views and opinions of viewers can be skewed. News will always be flowing from a variety of sources, but if we are able to better control the output and the affect it has on everyday life, the effects won’t be as outwardly overwhelming; people will still be informed in the quick nature that they desire, without having to choose between competing reports and thus, will be able to “think for themselves” without a detrimental bias inflicted upon them. As Keith Nelson Jr. stated, "You are the news. Report responsibily."

Screenshots from video posted by Chris LeDay

#breakingnews News in real time, live at the scene, from users just like you. Explore now.

Photo by: Mohammed Abed

CHAOS IN CONTROVERSIES from Syrian protests to the 2013 Boston Marathon, tragedies

constantly carry the news, and more often than not, those living amidst the disasters are the ones documenting it.

Photo by: Dan Lampariello

Photo by: Aaron Tang

BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING April 15, 2013

BRUSSELS AIRPORT BOMBINGS March 22, 2015

Photo by: Anthony Davis

Photo by: Michael Villa

Photo by: Ketevan Kardava

Photo by: Aleppo Media Center

SYR UNR Photo by: the Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Assad

Photo by: Hussein Malla

RIAN REST Photo by: John Cantlie

Photo by: Chris Lee

FERGUSON RIOTS August 9, 2014

Photo by: Jeff Roberson

Photo by: Scott Olsen

Barry Schwartz The Paradox of Choice New York: HarperCollins, 2004. Print.

Stuart Allan and Einar Thorsen Citizen Journalism

New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009. Print.

Cecilia Friend and Jane B. Singer Online Journalism Ethics Armonok, NY: M.Em Sharpe, 2007. Print.

Errol Morris Believing is Seeing

New York: Penguin Press, 2011. Print.

Henry Jenkins Convergence Culture

New York: New York University Press, 2006. Print.

Chris Peters and Marcel Broersma Rethinking Journalism Abingdon: Routledge, 2012. Print.

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PHOTOS BY Mohammed Abed Aleppo Media Center Alexa Frankovitch Anthony Davis Nilüfer Demir Sid Hastings Ketevan Kardava

Kris Krüg Dan Lampariello Chris LeDay Chris Lee Hussein Malla Scott Olsen Jeff Roberson

Virginia Schau Aaron Tang Michael Villa Stefan Wermuth The Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Assad WFFA News

RESEARCH Corinne Barnes "Citizen Journalism vs. Traditional Journalism: A Case for Collaboration" Caribbean Quarterly

Michelle Leibowitz "Drawbacks of Citizen Journalism" Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change Dalal Mawad "Syria: Too Much Information?" Columbia Journalism Review

Andrew Geleff "Citizen Journalism and Social Media in 2013: Is There "Too Much" or is it Just What We Need?" bytenow.net

Roy Morejon "How Social Media is Replacing Traditional Journalism as a News Source [Infographic]" SocialMediaToday.com

Dan Gillmor "Rodney King and the Rise of Citizen Photojournalism" mediactive.com

Bruce Mutsvairo, Simon Columbus, Iris Leijendekker "African Citizen Journalists' Ethics and the Emerging Networked Public Sphere" Amsterdam University College

Keith Greenwood and Ryan J. Thomas "Locating the Journalism in Citizen Photojournalism" tandfonline.com

Keith Nelson Jr. "The Citizen Journalist: How Ordinary People are Taking Control of the News" digitaltrends.com

Priya Joshi "Aylan Kurdi: Photographer who Captured Harrowing Image of Syrian Toddler Describes 'Pain and Sorrow'" Vice.com

Astha Rajvanshi "In Human Rights Reporting, the Perils of Too Much Information" Columbia Journalism Review

Nadine Jurrat "Mapping Digital Media: Citizen Journalism and the Internet" Open Society Institute

Jamie Spud "Citizen Journalism – London Bombings Case Study" jameselliot92.wordpress.com